Last night's Red Sox win: The most exhausting game of the season

APA flying Dustin Pedroia is tagged out by Yankees catcher Austin Romine during the sixth inning of last night's Red Sox-Yankees game.

Has there been a more emotionally draining game for the Red Sox than last night's 14-inning, 7-4 win?

The answer is no. No, there has not.

After losing the first two games of their weekend series against the Yankees, Boston was cornered.

Another loss would have meant the Red Sox finally falling into a tie with the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card race, the culmination of a remarkable freefall that began with them holding a nine-game lead on the Rays as recently as Sept. 4.

The rest of the numbers coming into last night's game were similarly appalling. As Boston Globe writer Peter Abraham pointed out, the team had lost four straight, seven of eight and 16 of 20. They also were 5-18 in September and 33-35 since the All-Star break.

Which knight in shining armor did the Red Sox start to stop this trend? John freakin' Lackey. Yes, the same guy who had posted a 6.49 ERA this year while regularly hanging his team out to dry. It sounded like a nightmare waiting to happen.

Something amazing happened last night, however.

Despite falling behind 3-0, the Red Sox never quit. In fact, Lackey settled down to hold the Yankees at three runs until he came out of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Terry Francona gave him a quick hook after Lackey gave up a leadoff hit to Eric Chavez, but it already was the best performance by a Red Sox starter in weeks.

From then on, it was a game of inches. Alfredo Aceves allowed a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4 that inning, but Boston's bullpen suddenly grew cojones.

Not one pitcher, either. Many of them. After Aceves pitched 1 2/3 innings, Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon, Franklin Morales and Felix Doubront combined to blank the Yankees from the eighth inning on. The game took more than five hours to complete.

Sure, Bard played with fire, loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Francona summoned Jonathan Papelbon, though, and the Red Sox closer struck out Austin Romine to end the inning. There was no room for error, and Papelbon came through.

Did the Red Sox make mistakes along the way? Sure.

While Francona's gutsy decision to use Papelbon to get seven outs paid off handsomely, his choice to pull Adrian Gonzalez in the top of the ninth for pinch-runner Lars Anderson definitely backfired. Boston couldn't push across a run to take a 5-4 lead, and the Sox watched as Anderson popped out in the 11th inning to third base and struck out in the 13th.

With a deeper September roster, however, Francona managed aggressively, and it paid dividends. Eventually, Jacoby Ellsbury made it all worthwhile by ripping a deep home run to center field.

The Red Sox still aren't out of the woods when it comes to securing this Wild Card, but the also still have a one-game cushion.